The royal guard was circling the area.
Word had spread fast, and while no one was fleeing, because they really did have an incredible amount of power being gathered in such high numbers...
"Master Binan is worried."
Bin blinked out of his thoughts and walked out onto the balcony where Karalius patiently waited. The man had finally let him remain inside in order to rest, but he was still hesitating in following.
The moment his bare feet stepped outside, however, the man was upon him, scooping him up and chastising him for walking outside without shoes on while he wasn't feeling well.
"You should not be out here without shoes, Nana, and why do you still have marks beneath your eyes?"
Bin pursed his lips and looked away, a little embarrassed at the nagging.
"I-I'm just used to the rocking of the ship. I'm sure I'll get used to it being so still soon," he said honestly, ignoring the shoe comment altogether in favor of the other.
He really didn't want it to seem like he needed to be rocked to sleep like an infant and, perhaps, not all of his sleepless nights could be blamed on such an excuse.
He was nervous about the current situation between himself and Karalius, of course, but he was also worried about his master and his new pup. On top of that, he had wanted Karalius to come inside just in case the pirates that had settled the area as permanent residents, most of which being vampires, found him walking about.
While vampires and the rare capable human were welcome, he wasn't too sure that Karalius would be given the same acceptance.
"Won't you come in and rest with me?" he asked after a few moments of silence between them.
That silence stretched on and on as Karalius looked off into the distance.
I don't like that you're out here by yourself.
Of course, he knew that his master had guards stationed in the shadows, but there weren't many, and now that Kara's wings had been removed, he was even more at risk.
"I will look after master Binan from here. It is safer to guard from the outside," Karalius finally said before setting him back down on his feet.
But it's not safer for you.
When Karalius began walking over towards the railing, Bin pursed his lips and fought back a scowl. The man was his heir, and should have listened to what he was requesting, but no matter what he said, Karalius seemed determined to decline him.
Frustrating man.
"Take off your coat so that I can check your wounds," he said instead as he walked over to the man.
Karalius paused for a moment, then turned around to face him with his normal calm, blank stare. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he wisely held his tongue and, instead, unbuttoned, then shrugged off his heavy jacket.
You never even put your shirt back on...
It was too cold to walk around outside with only one layer at night!
Now truly mad, Bin grabbed Kara's arm and promptly pulled him into the house, then used his abilities to slam the double doors to the balcony definitively shut!
When he shoved the man down onto a padded stool a moment later, then spun him around so that he was facing his bandaged back, Karalius seemed too stunned to respond.
"Sit still and behave," Bin grumbled as he got busy undoing the bloody bandages.
To his surprise, Karalius did as told and sat straight and silent the entire time he cleaned his back. He could tell that it hurt him a bit, but he kept himself quiet and barely flinched more than once.
Once all of the blood had been cleaned up, Bin looked over the wounds and sighed silently as he pressed a hand against Karalius's cold skin.
I'm so glad that it's healing well.
The blood had been expected, since it had been a pretty bad set of injuries, but everything looked healthy still and nothing was infected.
Moving around him to the dressing table, Bin grabbed the salve he'd been using to heal the wounds, then walked back around to begin gently applying it.
He was just about done when Karalius finally decided to speak.
"Nana, when will I be able to change you safely?"
Bin's hand slowed to a stop against his cold skin for a second time. When he didn't respond after several moments, Karalius turned around on the stool so that they were now facing each other with their noses mere inches apart.
His tongue felt like chalk in his mouth, unable to make a single sound.
Karalius tilted his head up slightly.
"Master Binan, when will I be able to change you saâ" his repeated words were cut off by two fingers gently settling against his cold lips.
Karalius remained silent, but when Bin also couldn't speak, the man before him slowly began tilting his head to one side, clearly contemplating the situation as best he could.
Just the look of confused, nervous, determination on his face made Bin's heart break all over again as tears threatened to spill over the edges of his eyes.
When Karalius finally decided on a response, it wasn't verbal, nor was it what Bin had expected.
The man's tongue slipped from between his slightly parted lips and brushed against Bin's fingers in one slow, intentional motion. The gesture made Bin suddenly feel all of the blood in his body abruptly rush to color his pale cheeks!
He tried to yank his hand away quickly to break their contact, but Karalius easily caught it in his cold, tight grip. The man's expression remained unchanged, not even showing any sign of strain when Bin tried to withdraw his hand.
"Karalius," he finally said sternly, warning him.
Instead of releasing him, Karalius's fingers tightened as his head tilted in the opposite direction as before, still clearly processing the situation.
When he did finally speak, Bin couldn't help but blink in his own confused surprise.
"Master Binan wishes to share a bed with me again?"
Frowning, Bin thought over his words carefully.
He knew that Karalius had known that he'd wanted him to come inside. He didn't mind sharing his large bed with the man, so why was he asking about such a thing when he already knew the answer?
"Y... yes?" Bin eventually replied, unsure what Karalius was truly thinking about.
The man before him went silent again as he thought through his words, his mind trying to keep the pieces of information he was receiving connected long enough to form a complete thought.
Bin waited patiently. It took Kara nearly two full minutes to figure out what he wanted to say, but when those soft dark eyes lifted back up to his eyes, Bin couldn't help but feel his face tinge red again.
"I will take care of master Binan this evening," he said so quietly that Bin almost lost the words to the loud thrumming of his nervous heart in his ears.
Bin stared, trying to figure out what the man meant, when Karalius suddenly stood, then stepped the slightest fraction forward. When Bin instinctively took a step back, Karalius followed with another forward one of his own, then another. The man could have easily stopped him since he was still holding his wrist, but instead, he let him continue to retreat for some reason.
Bin was trying to figure out what Karalius was intending to do when he suddenly felt something firm press against the back of his legs, forcing him off balance. Not a moment later and he was flat on his back in bed, his hair splayed around his head as his demon quizzically assessed their new situation from above him, leaning over his body on his hands and knees.
This was definitely not what I was trying to get you to do!
He was just about to correct the man and order him to finally release him, but before the words could leave his parting lips, they were sealed by Kara's.
"..."
His first instinctual response was to shove the other man away immediately, but the moment his free hand pressed against Karalius's chest, he hesitated as an unnecessary thought slipped into his mind.
He... is terrible at kissing!
Not that he had much experience, himself, but it honestly felt like he was kissing a piece of ice!
No longer worried that things might turn inappropriate, since his demon seemed uninterested in moving any further... or perhaps didn't remember how such situations actually went, Bin reached up with his free hand and nudged the man's cheek until Karalius relented and leaned away, a curious look in his dark eyes.
What is that look for?
Before he could voice his question Bin's mouth was sealed again.
You brat...
He glared at Karalius, meeting his calm eyes with his own narrowed ones, but the man didn't seem to process anything besides the fact that he was being allowed to continue showing his affection.
The signal that he was getting annoyed was clearly lost on him.
Before he could bring himself to push the man's face away again, he saw something that made him hesitate.
Why are you closing your eyes? This isn't a good kiss! This isn't romantic, or even anything close to it!
He was so focused on rambling nonsense in his own mind that Bin gasped when he felt Kara's cold tongue brush against his lower lip! The slight opening now between his lips drew Karalius's attention as Bin's breath slipped out and eventually, slowly, drew the man's tongue to press into that warmer space.
That tongue was so, so cold.
At first Bin tried to make sure his own tongue avoided contact with Kara's, but after only a few moments he felt wholly uncomfortable denying the man the slightest bit of warmth he could provide him if he simply allowed the touch.
The moment their tongues pressed against each other Karalius gave the most content, quiet sigh Bin had ever heard. It sounded as if he were being granted something monumental. Something that he'd worked hard to earn throughout his entire life up until that moment.
Bin slowly lifted his hand up to press against the man's left side, then, after a slight pause in the motion of their tongues brushing together, Karalius's lowered his body until it was settled carefully atop his own.
Of course, it wasn't the most intimate of positions, and they weren't even lined up where it mattered, let alone the fact that they were both still very-much fully clothed besides Karalius's upper body, but that only made Bin grin as Karalius now returned all of his focus into continuing their imperfect, terribly-slow kiss.
At that moment, however, Bin realized that he now understood something that had his body relaxing completely as the man's grip on his wrist finally loosened, then fell away completely in order to allow that hand to delve into Bin's hair.
We used to joke around about this sort of thing when we were kids.
They had been reasonable, upright boys, but they had been boys nonetheless. There had been plenty of jokes, and when Karalius had been taught about his duties as a man when it concerned his future wife, he had taught it to Bin, whose father was never home to pass along such information. The two had even joked about marrying each other to keep themselves from the headaches of women, but of course, it had just been in jest...
His grin stretched slightly as he felt his heart lighten, then grow heavy, then lighten again, unable to decide how he should feel about their current situation.
In the end, he was left speechless and unable to do anything but stare as Karalius finally leaned away just enough for their eyes to meet as he opened his again.
Seeing his own reflection in those dark depths, Bin could only swallow, then lick his cold, damp lips.
There was another long pause as his demon considered their current situation, but to Bin's surprise, when Karalius simply reached up to tug gently at a small length of his bangs, he couldn't help but smile and reach up, too, settling his hand calmly over Kara's.
His gesture had the man tilting his head slightly, trying to understand what his response should be, no doubt. Bin didn't wait for him this time, though. Instead, he reached up with his other hand and pressed it against the back of Karalius's cold neck, warming the skin there the slightest fraction as he guided him back down for another slow, terrible kiss because, if he was being completely honest, it might not have been all that terrible...